How to Create a Useful Links Floating Widget for Your Website: A Step-by-Step Guide with Examples and Tips

In today’s digital age, having a user-friendly website is essential for success. One way to improve the user experience is by adding a useful links floating widget in the bottom right corner of your website. This widget can have three links and expand or collapse, providing visitors with quick access to important pages on your site. In this article, we’ll show you how to create a useful links floating widget step by step, with subheadings for easy navigation.

Planning Your Useful Links Floating Widget

Before you start building your useful links floating widget, it’s essential to plan out what links you want to include. Think about the most important pages on your website that visitors might want to access quickly. Some examples might include your homepage, blog, contact page, or about page. Once you’ve identified the three links you want to include, you can start building your widget.

Creating the HTML Markup

To create the HTML markup for your useful links floating widget, you can start with a basic div element. Here’s an example:

<div class="useful-links-widget">
    <a href="#" class="useful-links-widget__toggle"></a>
    <div class="useful-links-widget__links">
        <a href="#">Link 1</a>
        <a href="#">Link 2</a>
        <a href="#">Link 3</a>
    </div>
</div>

In this example, we’ve created a div element with the class useful-links-widget. Inside the div, we’ve added an anchor element with the class useful-links-widget__toggle. This element will be used to expand and collapse the widget. We’ve also added another div element with the class useful-links-widget__links. This div will contain the three links we identified in the planning stage.

Styling Your Useful Links Floating Widget

Now that we have the basic HTML markup for our useful links floating widget, we can style it with CSS. Here’s an example of what our CSS might look like:

.useful-links-widget {
    position: fixed;
    bottom: 20px;
    right: 20px;
    z-index: 9999;
}

.useful-links-widget__toggle {
    display: block;
    width: 50px;
    height: 50px;
    background-color: #333;
    background-image: url('path/to/expand-icon.svg');
    background-repeat: no-repeat;
    background-position: center center;
}

.useful-links-widget__links {
    display: none;
    position: absolute;
    bottom: 60px;
    right: 0;
    padding: 10px;
    background-color: #fff;
    border: 1px solid #333;
    box-shadow: 0 2px 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
}

.useful-links-widget__links a {
    display: block;
    margin-bottom: 10px;
    color: #333;
    text-decoration: none;
}

In this example, we’re using the position property to position the widget in the bottom right corner of the page. We’re also using the z-index property to ensure the widget is on top of other elements on the page. We’re then styling the toggle element with a background colour and an expand icon. Finally, we’re styling the links div with a white background, a border, and a box shadow.

Adding JavaScript Functionality

Now that we have our HTML and CSS in place, we need to add some JavaScript functionality to make the widget expand and collapse. Here’s an example of what our JavaScript might look like:

const widgetToggle = document.querySelector('.useful-links-widget__toggle');
const widgetLinks = document.querySelector('.useful-links-widget__links');

widgetToggle.addEventListener('click', function() {
    if (widgetLinks.style.display === 'none') {
        widgetLinks.style.display = 'block';
    } else {
        widgetLinks.style.display = 'none';
    }
});

In this example, we’re using JavaScript to select the toggle and links elements using the querySelector method. We’re then adding an event listener to the toggle element that listens for a click event. When the user clicks the toggle element, we check if the links element is currently hidden (display: none). If it is, we change the display property to block to show the links. If it’s not, we change the display property to none to hide the links.

Testing and Refining Your Useful Links Floating Widget

Once you’ve added your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, it’s important to test your useful links floating widget to make sure it’s working as expected. Test the widget on different devices and browsers to make sure it looks and functions properly. You may also want to gather feedback from users to see if there are any improvements you can make.

Here are some tips for refining your useful links floating widget:

Make sure the widget is responsive and looks good on different screen sizes.
Use clear and concise language for your links.
Consider adding icons to your links to make them more visually appealing.
Experiment with different colours and styles to make your widget stand out.

How to Create a Useful Links Floating Widget for Your Website: A Step-by-Step Guide with Examples and Tips

Adding a useful links floating widget to the bottom right corner of your website can improve the user experience and make it easier for visitors to navigate your site. Following the steps outlined in this article, you can create a widget that expands, collapses, and contains three important links. Remember to test and refine your widget to ensure it’s functioning properly and meeting the needs of your users. With a little planning and creativity, you can create a useful links floating widget that enhances your website’s usability and design.